The invention of the laser and the subsequent development of the high energy/power laser (P&gt;200 kw) focused attention on the potential of the high energy/power laser in the U.S. Army rolls and missions in defense of the United States. In order to evaluate this potential it is necessary to conduct experiments on the characteristic effects of propagation, materials damage and target vulnerability as a function of energy density and total laser beam power. First, a high energy laser beam sampling meter as disclosed in applicants' prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,088 was developed; however, this sampling meter was not completely sufficient to provide sufficient cross check on the sample wheel energy extraction efficiency and also the sampling wheel itself as originally made was not sufficient for accomplishing the desired results.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved high energy laser beam sampling meter which includes both a low level energy detector and a low level power detector.
Another object of this invention is to provide a sampling wheel which is made of a unit construction or a one piece wheel.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a high energy laser beam sampling meter which has very fast response time for detecting the reflected energy.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a structure which is mounted on a rigid mount in which each of the components are fixed in rigid relation to each other so as to maintain a fixed and rigid relationship between the elements of the system.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in this art.